NEWS
Keshorn Made Me Drink
Keshorn Walcott's bronze medal on Saturday in Brazil at the 2016 Olympics in the javelin- throwing competition, cost a motorist in Trinidad $6,000 when he opted to celebrate the occasion by drinking too many beers. Shane Ramcharan, 46, appeared before Magistrate Taramatee Ramdass in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court yesterday, having been arrested at midnight Saturday along the Naparima Mayaro Road in Cocoyea, near the southern city. Some four hours before, at about 8 pm, Walcott, defending his 2012 achievement of winning gold, had thrown the javelin in the finals of the 2016 competition and copped Trinidad and Tobago’s only medal at the Rio Games. Read more…
Leaders show off arsenal
A video depicting known gang leaders, some of whom are in currently in jail, is engaging the attention of Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) and the Strategic Services Agency — this country’s main surveillance unit, as they gather information on suspected criminals. Police said last night that the video, which is being shared on WhatsApp, clearly identifies Rasta City gang leaders from Beetham Gardens, Sea Lots, Maloney, L’eau Place in Port-of-Spain, Maracas, Point Fortin and Caroni, among other areas. Police said the video was used primarily as a recruiting tool to lure new members by giving the impression of a glorified life of crime. In the video, gang members display a host of high-tech guns from their arsenal, including the Mach 10, Uzi, Tec-9, AK47 and AR15 rifles. Read more…
Boy, 9, was shot through the heart
Nine year old Cyon Paul died from a single bullet through the heart. This was the finding made by pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov during a post mortem on the boy's body at the Forensic Science Centre, St James. The Guardian and the Newsday reported on Monday that the child had been shot four times and that he was probably the target of killers in a drug-related crime. However, Dr Alexandrov described the child's cause of death in a telephone interview with the Express. He said: “The boy was shot just one time. The bullet hit his left arm, re-entered the left side of his chest and perforated his left lung and his heart. It exited through the right side chest”. He said : “The big question is, was it execution or not? Definitely not”. Paul, a first standard pupil of the La Romaine RC primary school lived with mother Safiya Williams at Byron Street, La Romaine. At around 9p.m last Friday, he was walking to a hot-dog stall near his home, in the company of a 13-year-old cousin, when he was shot. Read more…
POLITICS
Parliament resumes Sept 8
Parliament is due to resume on September 8, officials said yesterday. The sitting will mark the start of a hectic parliamentary calender. Government officials have already earmarked several legislative matters for attention. Among them is the expected tabling of legislation to abolish child marriage. The Ministry of the Attorney General has completed a series of consultation exercises in relation to the State’s proposal to raise the marriageable age to 18. The last event was held in July at the Magdalena Grand Resort, Tobago. A meeting with religious bodies and submissions from religious groups have also been entertained. Read more…
It will help fight crime
National Security Minister Edmund Dillon says a $9 million three-day Conference of Defence Ministers of the Americas (CDMA) will benefit this country in its crime fight as it provides an opportunity for networking and strengthening cooperation. The conference, which takes place from October 10-12, 2016, will see Ministers and Prime Ministers from 33 countries of the Americas convening for the 12th biennial session at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Port of Spain, for discussions on the theme “Strengthening defence and security cooperation in the Hemisphere in an Increasingly volatile global environment”. Read more…
BUSINESS
AmCham congratulates Government on signing FATCA
The American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (Am- Cham) has commended Government for signing an agreement with the United States (US) Government on Friday last to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in an effort to improve international tax compliance. AmCham yesterday reminded that it has been “very vocal on this issue, since the Act was passed in the US in 2010, and while there are still many questions on the general principles, breadth of scope and implications of FATCA, we believe that this is a step in the right direction.” Government is now being urged by Am- Cham to ensure that the supporting legislation and regulatory policies are enacted and enforced, so that the Trinidad and Tobago Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) can easily share the relevant information with the US “without administrative burden and untimely delays, while at the same ensuring that the legitimate expectations of privacy are respected.” Read more…
VAT rebate helps oil firm target more wells
A $5.2 million value added tax (VAT) rebate will help onshore oil and gas company LGO Energy plc to target five more wells in the Goudron area, near Guayaguayare, a company statement said yesterday. “Goudron Exploration and Production (E&P) Limited (GEPL), LGO’s operating subsidiary, has received agreement from BNP Paribas, as announced on June 14, to deploy available local currency in operations such as GY-277 to maintain production. A further five target wells have been approved by LGO management for recompletion over the next few months; GY-668, 288, 193, 240 and 282, at an average cost of approximately US$50,000 per well. Read more…
REGIONAL
Resort developer announces scholarship programme for 50 students from Dominica
Range Developments, the developer of luxury projects in the Caribbean, has announced the creation of 50 scholarships of $1,000 each for students from the island of Dominica to help them pay for their studies. “Education is the single most important thing one can give a young person,” said Mohammed Asaria, vice chairman of Range Developments. “We are delighted to be participating in this project, we have a robust corporate social responsibility programme and look forward to closer links with the people of Dominica.” The initiative was welcomed by government officials. Read more…
JTA Recruitment Affected By Slow Processing Of New Teachers By Ministry
The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) has lamented the slow pace at which the Ministry of Education has been processing new teachers so that their status of employment can be made official. This, the association says, has impacted its ability to effectively recruit new members and have them officially added to its membership. JTA General Secretary Byron Farquharson, in his report to the 52nd Annual Conference of the association which is being held at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, cited a low pickup rate by the Ministry of Education as one of the factors derailing the union's recruitment efforts. "While we applaud the effort of the membership committee to recruit new members, much of what they do is stymied by the slow and relatively low pickup rates by the Ministry of Education," he told the conference. Read more…
INTERNATIONAL
Rio Paralympics 2016: Russia banned after losing appeal
Canada's stolen daughters: Sex traffickers target indigenous Canadians
As Lauren Chopek painfully details her story, she does so with the reticence of a survivor, as if somehow remaining silent would have been better. "I used to blame myself for everything. But, like I, I would say I let them do that to me. I am dirty. It's my fault," says Chopek through tears. But Chopek is finally speaking out, determined to shake the guilt and shame that she knows should stalk her perpetrators instead of her. "Now I see that I was just a child," says Chopek, now sitting serenely in a safe house, a healing lodge in rural Manitoba that cradled her in the love and protection she so needed when she escaped her life on the streets. Now 19, Lauren was just 14 when she was sexually exploited and trafficked for sex in her hometown of Winnipeg. But as an indigenous girl in Canada, her story is hardly rare. Read more…
23rd August 2016